1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly, to the mounting structure of the louvers provided with the air outlet.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the air outlet of an air conditioner, louvers are provided in order to control the directions of the air with heat exchange being conducted to be sent evenly or, in some cases, locally to the room. FIG. 17 is a sectional view showing a general structure of an air conditioner as the conventional art, and FIG. 18 is an enlarged sectional view of the air outlet portion. An air conditioner consists of an indoor unit and an outdoor unit, and an air conditioner referred to here means an indoor unit.
Specifically, the air conditioner as the indoor unit includes a housing 1 designed to be hung on an indoor wall, and in this example, air inlet ports 2 are respectively provided on the front and top surfaces of the housing 1, with an air outlet 5 being is provided at the lower portion of the front surface of the housing 1. In the air passage from the air inlet port 2 to the air outlet 5 in the housing 1, a heat exchanger 3 and an air fan 4 are provided.
In the air outlet 5, for example, two of longitudinal louvers 7 and 8 for regulating a wind direction in a longitudinal direction, and a number of lateral louvers 6 for regulating a wind direction in a lateral direction are provided. Generally, the longitudinal louvers 7 and 8 are positioned in front of the lateral louvers when the air outlet 5 is seen from the outside (indoor side), and by the supporting piece suspended from an upper wall portion 5a of the air outlet 5, rotating shafts 7a and 8a are supported so as to be almost horizontal. Specifically, the vertical louvers 7 and 8 are rotatable in a longitudinal direction within a range of a specified angle with the horizontal rotating shafts 7a and 8a as the center.
Only one of the lateral louvers 6 is illustrated in FIGS. 17 and 18, but actually a number of lateral louvers 6 are provided in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of the drawings. Conventionally, each of the lateral louvers 6 is supported in a supporting shaft hole 5b provided on the upper wall portion 5a of the air outlet 5 by the medium of the bush 9 so as to be rotated in a lateral direction with the rotational axis almost perpendicular to the rotational axis of the longitudinal louvers 7 and 8 as the center.
Specifically, each of the lateral louvers 6 has a slit 6b made in an axial direction and includes a supporting shaft 6a, radius of which can be elastically reduced by the slit 6b, and after the bush 9 is engaged in the supporting shaft hole 5b of the above-described upper wall portion 5a, each of the lateral louvers 6 is rotatably held at the upper wall portion 5a of the air outlet 5 by compulsorily engaging the supporting shaft 6a in the bush 9. Each of the lateral louvers 6 has a connecting-pin 6c for attaching a connecting plate 10 at the shoulder portion of the wing piece, and is connected to each other so as to be synchronously rotated by the medium of the connecting plate 10.
After the air fan 4 is operated, air is inhaled from the air inlet port 2, then after heat exchange is conducted at the heat exchanger 3, air is blown to a room from the air outlet 5, and at this time, a wind direction in a lateral direction is controlled by the lateral louvers 6 while a wind direction in a vertical direction is controlled by the longitudinal louvers 7 and 8.
In this way, a wind direction is variously controlled, and in the conventional art, the connecting-pin 6c and the connecting plate 10 are exposed in the air outlet 5, therefore at this portion air resistance occurs and there is a disadvantage of air blowing efficiency being reduced. Especially when an aircondition car is driven, condensation occurs at the connecting-pin 6c and the connecting plate 10, and in an extreme case, the dew drops from the air outlet 5 and makes a room dirty.
When the above-described lateral louvers 6 are rotated to and fro within a range of a specified angle by a motor, conventionally, the driving lever 13 as illustrated in FIG. 19 is connected to each of the lateral louvers 6 separately from the above-described connecting plate 10, and one end of the driving lever 13 is connected to the driving shaft of the motor which is not illustrated in the drawing by the medium of a link arm 14.
As the link arm 14, a link arm including a driving hole 14c engaged with the driving shaft of the motor at one end which is provided with a connecting-pin 14a is used, and a connecting hole 13a formed at one end of the driving lever 13 is engaged with the connecting-pin 14a. In this case, a head portion 14b with the radius being expanded is provided at the connecting-pin 14a in order that the driving lever 13 is not easily come out of the axial direction. Accordingly, a slit 13b is formed on the side of the connecting hole 13a of the driving lever 13 and the connecting hole 13a is engaged with the connecting-pin 14a by compulsorily expanding the connecting hole 13a.
However, according to the connecting structure, when the load, for example, on the driving lever 13 becomes heavy, there is a disadvantage that the connecting hole 13a is disengaged from the connecting-pin 14a by the medium of the slit 13b.
The present invention is made to solve each of the above-described conventional disadvantages, and the first object is to provide an air conditioner in which the lateral louvers can be easily assembled without exposing the connecting plate and so on connecting a number of lateral louvers.
The second object is to provide an air conditioner including a connecting means surely connecting the driving lever to the link arm on the motor side, when a number of lateral louvers are rotated to and fro by a motor by the medium of a driving lever.